modern warfare
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Modern Warfare 2 dynamic themes in the works
We like PS3 dynamic themes. (We don't like paying so much for them, though.) However, ever since the initial batch of themes for LittleBigPlanet, WipEout HD and PixelJunk Monsters, we haven't seen many interesting themes for purchase. That's about to change with the upcoming Modern Warfare 2. Infinity Ward used Twitter to confirm that, like all games released in 2009, MW2 will feature both rumble and Trophy support. Additionally, they noted "some dynamic themes [are] in the works for the PS3 XMB."Considering the popularity of the Call of Duty franchise, it seems likely that the Modern Warfare 2 dynamic theme will be quite a popular item on the PlayStation Store. We can already see the hordes of people downloading the theme whilst they type up yet more annoying (and incorrect) PSN spam chain letters about how Call of Duty is becoming an Xbox-only franchise.[Via Examiner]
Modern Warfare 2 map pack planned for Spring 2010
If our trusted sources on, um, this box of Modern Warfare 2–branded Monster energy drinks are to be believed, we'll be seeing at least one map pack arriving for the game by next spring (cue: shock and awe). The Monster boxes arrived this week at various game industry folks' locations, and GameSpot spotted the details on the box of an upcoming contest where 5,000 lucky folks will receive, "MW2 Map Pack codes" with a "planned release" of Spring 2010.The only thing more exciting than the map pack reveal? Dashboard themes -- confirmed. You ever chug down four Monsters and just look at one of those, man? You can see everything!
Interview: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer designer Todd Alderman
Last week's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 event was focused on mutliplayer, giving us a chance to ask Infinity Ward's lead multiplayer designer, Todd Alderman, a few questions about the monstrous shooter. Read on the for the goods, including more near-confusion over the whole Call of Duty: Modern Warfare naming scheme, and details on the Special Ops missions included with the game.%Gallery-50567%
Modern Warfare 2 'Veteran Edition' offered by UK retailer GAME
UK residents who shop at GAME will be wandering around cluelessly in the dark this November when Modern Warfare 2 hits store shelves. Rather than getting the night vision goggle-equipped "Prestige Edition" like way cooler UK retailer HMV, those who shell out £119.99 for the 'Veteran Edition' will receive the 12-inch statue of returning Modern Warfare character Captain "Soap" MacTavish, seen above. At £30 more for freakin' night vision goggles, a statue (albeit a nice one) might be a hard sell for those already investing more than double the cost of the game. If you're gonna go crazy, why not just go all the way crazy?[Via Eurogamer]
Mad Catz detailz mice, controllers, 'Throat Communicator' for Modern Warfare 2
our best guess Knowing us, we're going to need some extra Modern Warfare 2 accessories when the game releases this November -- and no, the $150 collector's edition certainly isn't enough! Mad Catz is thankfully answering the call from those of us yearning for more ways to spend money on non-essential MW2 items (non-essentials being everything other than the game disc, of course), detailing today its previously announced accessories.The damage ranges from $15 to $100 for 10 different items, such as custom controllers, mice, faceplates, and even something dubbed "skinz." We've been promised images of said items later in the week, so we'll just have to wonder what a "Throat Communicator" could possibly look like until then.
The Daily Grind: Is space the "final frontier" for MMOs?
"Space: the final frontier." Sounds a bit short-sighted, doesn't it? I mean, no offense to the ghost of Gene Roddenberry, but we've barely scratched the surface of what's out there beyond our atmosphere. To claim that it is the "final frontier" to be explored, charted, and colonized may not be entirely accurate. But, it does make for a catchy slogan and a great series of TV shows, movies, and games (ok, games... historically, not so much).Thus far, "space" may appear to be the final frontier in MMOs as well, but to claim it as such is also short-sighted. The creativity of the human mind is a great thing. I'm sure we'll conjure up some novel concepts or twists on old themes or settings and make them work. The two biggest MMO sub-genres so far are undoubtedly Fantasy and Science Fiction (often space-oriented). Superhero MMOs are making a run for it and so are MMOs in post-apocalytic settings. There are even a plethora of oddly-themed kids games too. Are there any genres we haven't thoroughly tapped yet? What about Horror? Mystery? Crime? Modern warfare? As for settings, what about Earth present? Earth historic? Alternate dimensions? Fairly tales? What genres and settings are you itching to explore?
Infinity Ward lending a hand on Modern Warfare 2 controller?
Time Crisis fans fully understand the awesomeness of a good gun when playing a gun-based title, so those very gamers will likely grasp the significance of Robert Bowling's Modern Warfare 2-related tweet. Just yesterday, the Infinity Ward employee made clear that he was "in a design meeting for a Modern Warfare 2 controller," and he sought the input of the Twitterverse regarding "concave or convex grips for the analog sticks." If you'll recall, this title can already be secured with an actual pair of night vision goggles, so tossing in some sort of rifle or semiautomatic weapon would just sweeten the pot even further -- chances are, though, this is just gonna be modeled after the plain jane Xbox 360 pad. When contacted by our pals over at Joystiq, Bowling wouldn't elaborate much, only noting that the controller "isn't being manufactured by [Infinity Ward] or [Activision]." So, that means it is being manufactured though, right?[Via Joystiq]
Modern Warfare 2's Prestige Edition includes fully functioning night vision goggles
Now this is how you do a special edition. Activision and Infinity Ward look to be going all out for its Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 "Prestige Edition," with not only the usual accoutrements like a special casing and an art book, but also what is described by Community Manager Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling as a "fully functioning NVGs -- night vision goggles." No idea how well they work, but it's got alternating modes and MW2 branding. That's pretty awesome, but we gotta imagine it's gonna demand a pretty penny -- this is definitely more than that $80 "collector's edition" for $80 GameStop is currently listing. You won't be able to get your actual hands on the game until November at the earliest, so in the meantime, hit up the read link to get a glimpse of the "official" unboxing.Update: Joystiq's reporting it's gonna cost $149.99 for the prestige bundle.[Thanks, Joey]
Infinity Ward says 2 is the magic number for Modern Warfare co-op
Why can't every developer be Infinity Ward? When asked by Videogamer.com why Modern Warfare 2's co-op was limited to two players, spokesman Robert Bowling said, "Two player seemed to be the magic number for co-op. That's when it stayed really fun and intense without becoming a clusterf**k of things."Bowling also said that the whole game won't be playable in co-op because the developer is "crafting a very specific experience" and doesn't want to "ruin that by cramming co-op into it." While it's nice to see a company stick to its guns like that, we figure developers who sell a hojillion copies of a game can pretty much write their own menus.
Call of Duty 4 reaches 13 million players on Xbox Live
With the release of the recent full-length trailer for Modern Warfare 2, the gaming populous' attention has been turned away from the original Modern Warfare (considering the game's getting a follow-up, we think its Modern-ness could be disputed by this point, but we digress). However, Infinity Ward community commissar Robert Bowling (a.k.a. fourzerotwo) recently stopped by Major Nelson's podcast to explain why CoD4 shouldn't be ignored quite yet -- it just hit the remarkable 13 million player mark on Xbox Live.This number is impressive for two reasons: First, it's two million more players than the last Xbox Live total we heard for Modern Warfare back in March. The second reason has been mentioned by a few gaming blogs already -- it's surpassed the total number of World of Warcraft players. Impressive? Well, yes -- though nobody is forced to subscribe to Call of Duty 4. As far as pure, lucrative retention is concerned, we think WoW still takes the cake.
Full Modern Warfare 2 site launches Sunday, sneak peek on GTTV tonight
Infinity Ward community maestro fourzerotwo (also known by his civilian name, Robert Bowling) has announced via his Twitter that the Modern Warfare 2 website is set to launch this Sunday with the first gameplay trailer. What's that? You want to know the URL? Sure! It's modernwarfare2.com. Easy.If you can't be bothered to wait until Sunday, Mr. Geoff Keighley has announced via his Twitter that GameTrailers TV will premier a new Modern Warfare 2 gameplay teaser tonight on Spike. GTTV also will be premiering Heavy Rain, building up tonight's episode to be a good one. And, if you can't be bothered to stay up late, you can rest assured that we'll share it all right here on Joystiq just as soon as it's released from the GameTrailers vault.Source - @fourzerotwoSource - @geoffkeighley
Activision: Modern Warfare has taken on a 'life of its own'
Aside from, uh, gameplay footage, the one thing that was deemed conspicuously absent from Modern Warfare 2's explosive teaser trailer was the Call of Duty branding. Whether developer Infinity Ward is still debating the nested sequel's final title or simply hopes to distinguish its next FPS from the other 37 Call of Duty games on shelves is up for speculation, but it's hard to argue the independent prestige that lies behind Call of Duty 4's "Modern Warfare." An Activision spokesperson seems to agree, telling Joystiq, "At this time, all we are free to say is that Modern Warfare has taken on such a life of its own, it has become our focus now." Since Modern Warfare 2 is almost certain to spawn another iteration after it releases this November, it may be best to ditch the Call of Duty brand before we end up with something like Call of Duty 17: Modern Warfare 6: Moderner Warfare 3: Lasers are Bad News: Aerosmith. Update: Activision has just officially announced the November 10th arrival of "Modern Warfare 2" -- sans "Call of Duty."
Infinity Ward Twitter page welcomes suggestions for 'Modern Warfare 2'
You'd think Infinity Ward, developer of various Call of Duty titles (including 2007's enormously popular Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare) would just come out and say it already. Between the not-so-clandestine Tweets from IF Community Manager Robert "Fourzerotwo" Bowling and Activision big boss Bobby Kotick outright announcing the title to a group of potential advertisers, we're pretty sure Modern Warfare 2 exists ... somewhere. As if to add fuel to our already brightly burning fire, Infinity Ward recently created a Twitter page specifically for community contribution to their clearly in-progress game. Got something to tell Mr. Bowling and the rest of the folks hard at work on the next Modern Warfare game? Head over to your Twitter account and write in your under 140 character suggestion with a "#MW2" hashtag. And no, like you, we didn't know what a "hashtag" was until just now.
COD4 seemingly complete, Infinity Ward focused on future
Still holding out for new Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare maps and playlists? We're sorry to be the ones to tell you this, but there aren't anymore maps or playlists. None. Go home, kid. Over at the official Xbox forums, Infinity Ward community manager Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling rather strongly suggested that the development team has moved on from COD4 and is gearing up for its next project, whatever that may be.Bowling also discussed the issue of balance, perception and DLC. In his words, "If you include [the maps] out of box (shipped with game for no extra cost) then it's just ignored and people demand more. If you instead, decide to get the game out and then worry about beefing up the map selection via DLC, people say ... 'this should have been included in the shipped game.'" We hear ya buddy, now how about six more COD4 map packs?[Via Gamer Limit]
Bizarre making Bond title for '09, new racing IP is 'Mario Kart meets Forza'
At a summit held by Massive for in-game advertising, Activision confirmed that Bizarre Creations is working on a new third-person Bond title for release in 2009. According to the Twitter feed of Newsweek's N'Gai Croal (trust us, he's legit), the game is being touted as "racing and driving focused." The executive also mentioned Bizarre's new racing IP, describing it as "Mario Kart meets Forza." It's not much (in fact, it's somewhat paradoxical), but it does hint at a departure from Project Gotham Racing's realism -- relative to Mario Kart! The executive also reportedly said the next Call of Duty Modern Warfare is due out Fall 2009. We're uncertain if that's confirmation of the next COD's setting or just a glib way of saying "Infinity Ward's COD series." We're reaching out to Activision for clarification on all these statements.
Call of Duty 4 double XP weekend will be September 19th-21st
Beginning this Friday the 19th and ending on Sunday the 21st, PS3 owners will be gaining double XP all weekend for Call of Duty 4 multiplayer games. Also starting tomorrow Infinity Ward will begin discounting the Variety Map Pack, resulting in a price of $4.99 for the entire week. Finally, some of the developers will be on playing online Friday from 12PM-4PM PST (3PM-7PM EST), so click here for their PSN IDs and add them to your friends list. Seems like it is going to be a busy weekend for Call of Duty 4 players looking to rank up!
Play CoD4 with Infinity Ward, earn XP and save
In about 30 minutes, members of Call of Duty 4's development team from Infinity Ward will be logging onto Xbox Live to pwn some n00bs game with fans of CoD4 in an Xbox.com sponsored Game with Developers event. An event that goes hand in hand with the double XP weekend and the Variety Map Pack being discounted 50% for the weekend. Around nine Infinity Ward employees including artists, studio heads and the one and only Fourzertwo will be playing CoD4 TODAY from 3-7:00PM eastern. Make the jump for a listing of gamertags and be sure to spam the heck out of their Live inboxes. We're sure they'd love you for that.
Double XP, half-price maps invade Modern Warfare this weekend
Attention cyber-soldiers: Infinity Ward has dropped word that the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map pack will be made available for half price (400MS points) this weekend. Attempting to gain popularity for the struggling title, players will also be able to earn Double XP during ranked games beginning September 12, 12AM PDT and running through September 14 at midnight -- the same time-frame for the discounted maps.If you'd like to show your support for a title that barely made a splash during its release downloading the four map package would be a nice start. Infinity Ward needs your help and are even offering Limited Edition Prestige gamerpics for free as yet another bonus. Save a developer. Help this struggling franchise. Oh, wait. We were thinking of Soldier Of Fortune for some reason. Never mind, Modern Warfare sold like a bajillion copies.Ed. Note: Bajillion is SO a word.
Here come Amazon's Gold Box deals [update 2]
Just a reminder to all you friendly folks in the U.S. -- Amazon is having crazy DS deals today. The retailer kicked off its Gold Box sales awesomely, offering Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for $16.99. If we don't say so ourselves, that is damn sweet. You have until 12am Pacific time to bite on this, but we recommend getting it sooner rather than later because we doubt supplies will last.As for the lightning deals, we've listed them here (with our guesses for ones that haven't been confirmed yet). Keep in mind, these are in Pacific time, and each deal lasts for four hours (assuming they don't go out of stock): 6am-10am: "Will you answer the call?" - Confirmed: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for $18.99 10am-2pm: "Dazzle your unsuspecting friends with your magical prowess." - Confirmed: Master of Illusion for $14.99. 2pm-6pm: "Protect the Earth, destroy the invaders." - Confirmed: Tranformers: Autobots 6pm-10pm: "Your destiny awaits. Experience the power." - (Our guess: Naruto: Ninja Destiny) We suppose that with such an awesome "Deal of the Day," we can forgive Amazon for everything else being subpar. Keep in mind, though, that these are just our guesses. We'll update the post as other sales are confirmed.[Update 1: Master of Illusion was confirmed as the second lightning deal and was added to the post.][Update 2: Transformers: Autobots is the third lightning deal. And, would you look at that -- Master of Illusion sold out. Who would have thought?][Via CAG]
CoD4 Variety Map DLC breaks download records
Holy Xbox Live Marketplace downloads soldier! Infinity Ward and Activision just gloated (and rightfully so) that the Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack DLC has shattered XBLM download records. Within' nine days of being released, one million paid downloads were accounted for with players logging in 30 million plus hours of gameplay. No wonder Xbox Live crashed when the map pack released ... AMAZING!Thinking about it, at 800 MS points a pop, the Variety Map Pack alone generated $10 million in sales in a little over a week. And that was just for four multiplayer maps! Crazy stuff. Congrats to Infinity Ward on a job well done and congrats to CoD4 players for keeping the community high atop the Xbox Live charts for so long. Also, with these sales, you can almost guarantee another CoD4 map pack will see a release in the not too distant future.
